


Sleepless Nights

by GrimalKim



Series: The Other Side of The Story [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Drabble, Early Mornings, F/M, Fluff, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Idiots in Love, Literal Sleeping Together, Love, Sleeping Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:54:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24057049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrimalKim/pseuds/GrimalKim
Summary: Hopper can't sleep because someone  - who is sleeping soundly - is keeping him awake.
Relationships: Jim "Chief" Hopper/Original Female Character(s), Jim "Chief" Hopper/Reader, Jim "Chief" Hopper/You
Series: The Other Side of The Story [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1735522
Comments: 6
Kudos: 38





	Sleepless Nights

The first time Hopper woke up it was 2am. The bedsheets were barely covering his naked side and when he sleepily tugged at them, well, they didn’t move. Cracking open a heavy eye he glanced back at the woman sleeping beside him. She had built herself a cocoon of yellow cotton, and all he could see of her was her lidded eyes and dark hair. He contemplated waking her, but she made an odd little noise and he forgot the idea instantly. She looked so cosy and peaceful – why would he ever take that from her, even for a moment? He groaned, flopping back on the pillow, silently thankful that it was a warmish night, at least. 

The second time was 3:12. This time the bedsheets were piled on him. All of them. Crumpled and shoved into his space. Rolling over to try and sort them out, he found that his girlfriend instinctively rolled away from him. So, now she was too hot even to sleep close to him. He sighed, curling his lip as he stretched back out under the covers, doing his best to keep them away from her while also ensuring they were there for when she wanted them again. Because he knew she would want them again. Her feet always got cold at night.

At 4:04 something smacked him in the gut, jarring him awake again. Fumbling in the dark his hands closed around something rubbery. He had to bring it close to his face to see what it was. Her hot water bottle, now only tepid. Lazily, the memory of getting it for her the evening before came back. She had been curled up, trying not to complain about the cramps, but failing miserably at hiding them. Hopper never envied this monthly challenge all women went through. The woman he loved always put on a brave face, but he knew. She was paler, her hands shook sometimes when the pain was intense enough, and she always curled up in a ball on the couch – like she was trying to hide away in herself. He had filled the hot water bottle at bedtime, right when she was biting her lip and her white knuckles were clenched around tight knees. “You know it’ll help.” He had said, handing it to her before they slipped into the bedroom. She was stubborn – annoyingly so – but he loved her and sometimes it was easier to do something for her than wait for her to ask. Hopper was also starting to suspect that she liked it that way, too. Her lips always twitched – like she was trying to fight off the threat of a smile – and she never argued back then, only ever breathing out his name like she was playing at being frustrated with him.

He placed the hot water bottle on the bedside table and rolled back over, falling asleep instantly.

It was almost time for the alarm to go off when he felt her weight, and the heat of her wash over him. She wasn’t cuddling though. No, she had decided she needed all of the bed space and had sprawled out over him like he wasn’t even there. Her arm had narrowly missed smacking him in the jaw, and her leg was stretched across both of his. He chuckled once into the pillow, thinking how ridiculous and yet completely adorable this was. She slept like the dead when she could sleep, and he knew this week left her drained in every way, even if she did nothing at all. He closed his eyes, hoping he’d drift back off for the short while before –  
The alarm roused her first. She groaned, moving her limbs from Hopper, which is really what woke him up. It was rare she ever got up in the night without him noticing, too. He flopped onto his side, sighing heavily before peeking up at her. She was sitting up, curls like a bird’s nest as she stretched. He had no idea how she could jump right out of bed as soon as the alarm buzzed. He was slow, sluggish until the second cup of coffee, and she seemed to be his complete opposite. He watched her vanish into the bathroom, tiptoeing across the bedroom because she sweetly thought he was still fast asleep. She never woke him until it was bordering on late for breakfast. A sleepy smile crossed his face as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He was exhausted. It had been like sleeping with a toddler in the bed, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. No, he loved every minute she was in his bed. On the nights she went home he missed her something terribly. The bed felt cold, too big for even him – the man who for too long had been reluctant to share any kind of space with another human being.  
He sat up slightly, letting the dreamy haze drift away while he listened to the water running and the dim sound of her brushing her teeth as the toilet flushed. Such a little, everyday thing, but Hopper had always found it comforting. It meant she was okay, that she was there with him and that he could keep her safe. She was okay – that was what mattered most to him.  
The door opened and she gave him a warm, minty smile. If he had the energy, he would have climbed out of the bed just to taste the spearmint on her lips. He was too busy struggling to stay awake though, instead forcing sleep away with heavy blinks.  
“Sleep well?” She asked, oblivious to her antics during the night.  
Hopper grinned, watching as she made her way around the room, getting ready for work. He was too damn in love to tell her how many times she had kicked him, stole the bedsheets – the one time she stole a portion of his pillow – no. None of that mattered now. Hell, he could put up with that for the rest of his life if it meant she stayed.  
“Like a rock.”

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't sleep and so this weird little thing was born.


End file.
